Sharks captain Joe Thornton admitted Saturday night he wasn't thrilled to be picked by coach Todd McLellan for the shootout after four of his teammates had failed in their attempts.

Thornton certainly didn't look uncomfortable, as he beat goalie Kari Lehtonen with a wrist shot to help give the Sharks a come-from-behind 3-2 shootout win over the Dallas Stars.

Goalie Alex Stalock stopped 44 shots in regulation time and overtime, and stopped all five shots he faced in the shootout as the Sharks won for just the third time in their past nine games.

"You don't really want to know what my reaction was when," McLellan called his name, Thornton said. "When my name was called, I was like, 'All right.' ... I just saw a little bit of net and put it in."

The game was the first for the Sharks since they lost rookie forward Tomas Hertl to a knee injury that will keep him out for at least a month, and possibly much longer.

In response, McLellan grouped his top three scorers -- Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, and Thornton -- on one line. McLellan also had Logan Couture on a line with Brent Burns and Marty Havlat. Hertl had been on a line with Thornton and Burns for much of the season.